


Boat Song

by Lukas17



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Angst, Gen, Homecoming, Panic Attacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-16
Updated: 2017-04-16
Packaged: 2018-10-19 13:55:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10641225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lukas17/pseuds/Lukas17
Summary: He missed his home, the ocean, his family, the time he'd spent down there. But he couldn't stay.





	

He’d lost count. Over the years he’d flown past the islands, each instance blending into the last. They never changed, the same trees rising high into the air. No matter what direction he came from they still looked the same.

Nostalgia didn’t have time to set in. The control panel gave off a shrill, little beep then displayed the message sent from the islands. He leaned back in his seat and let his apprentice read it off.

“It says they need help with something.” She said.

“What’s the priority?”

“Low. But we can stop by right? I mean, Yen Sid doesn’t need us immediately does he?” She was trying to be subtle, but he knew exactly what he goal was. Kya could charitably be compared to a small child after ingesting half a pound of sugar. Destiny Islands would be like a sandbox, another world she could run around and play in. If Sora let her touch down then he’d have to let her turn over every stone and explore every corner before she’d get back on. The only upside would be that she’d probably spend the rest of their two hour ride asleep in the back.

“Sure.” He said neutrally. “Who sent it?”

She shrugged, “Doesn’t say. But it’s not that big a world, right?”

It was not. And whatever was down there was small. The sensors picked up on it poking around near the play islands, but generally not getting close enough for anyone to worry about it. Kya could deal with it in ten minutes, but Sora knew exactly what was happening. If he just had her handle it he’d somehow hear about it later.

“Ask Kairi. She’s probably at her house.” He said. The map went on the screen and he pointed to the house in question. “She’ll know more about it.”

Kya nodded her head until her braids hung in front of her face. They landed on the pier of the Topaz Island, an agricultural island where plenty of people were already up working the fields. His grandparents had personal boats that they had stopped using when they got too old for it. Sora found their number on the dock and kicked out the smaller one for Kya.

“So you have to row that way.” He pointed towards the bigger island due north with the factories easily visible. “Kairi’s further mainland, but you just need to find the public dock and tie this up. When you’re done just row back here alright?”

“Alright.” She paddled off, splashing water everywhere with each stroke. He waited until she was a quarter of the way there before pulling out his grandfather’s boat and rowing out to the play islands.

He remembered waiting for this time of day, when the waves were the most calm and the sun was out. During the summer he’d spend the mornings with his grandparents, then row out to the islands to play with his friends. Sometimes he’d get tired halfway there and fall asleep in the boat. When the waves got choppy and rougher he’d wake up and have to paddle even further to get back home. Other times he’d purposefully pick a spot out of the way of passing travelers and just enjoy the sun.

If he wanted to he could do it all over again. He could just stop rowing, lay down, and let his apprentice take care of everything. If he rowed past the island no one would come looking for him, and he could take that time to rest. Destiny Islands wouldn’t disappear without him.

His arms kept moving, the island got closer. Not today.

No one was at the island. It felt strange until he saw the coconut tree split down the middle. He could see how the kids would be scared off, but even weak heartless could pull off something like that.

The heartless had left footprints in the sand, but they were half erased by the wind. It wasn’t hanging around this part of the island, but it was in the area.

On the other side of the island there was the broken bridge and the climbing path. Walking the shore revealed fresh, uneven steps in the wet sand on the shore. He followed them around the island, under the broken bridge. By then they had stopped, and he couldn’t quite place where they began again. Some of the sand around the area had been kicked up, but there was nothing to suggest it had run off in a different direction.

He analyzed the shallow pool, nothing was hiding in the water. Nothing in the shadows of the half broken bridge. There wasn’t really another other place for it to hide.

All at once it made sense, and all at once he realized he was too slow to avoid it.

“Took you long enough.”

He took in a long breath, counted to eight and let it all out again.

“I had to give Kya something to do.”

Riku came into view when he opened his eyes, and he refused to look away. Chin up high, looked him right in the eye. There wasn’t anything he was hiding.

“That’s your new apprentice right? How is she?”

“A lot like me.”

“Hmm.” Riku’s hands were empty, no aggression in his step. It was almost surprising how relaxed he was after all the work he did to set this up. “Well I guess if anyone could handle you it would be you.”

“She’s not that bad.”

“So you admit you were that bad?”

“I admit to nothing.”

“Of course you don’t.”

He could hear the slight in Riku’s voice, like when someone jabbed their jagged fingernails into his side. The words were in Riku’s mouth, but he refused to spit them out.

“Well.” He said, “I have to find Kya, since your problem’s taken care of.”

“You’re not going to stay?”

He stepped past Riku towards the other end of the island where he left his boat. “No, we have work to do.”

Riku followed closely behind, “You can’t take a break? How does Kya feel about this?”

“Kya just started, she hasn’t built up any time off.”

“What about you?”

Riku’s voice had grown sharp, like a warning that he was about to get hit if he didn’t knock it off.

“What about me?” He quickened his pace.

“Well it’s been a while.” Riku matched his speed. “Don’t you want to see everyone? Your mom keeps asking about you every time I see her.”

“I sent her a card.”

That sounded weak to his ears, and it must’ve sounded weak to Riku too because Riku’s hand was around his arm in an instant.

The keyblade was almost at his fingertips, but he managed to stop himself from summoning it. Instead he used his weight to pull himself out of Riku’s hold. They both went tumbling down after that, and before he knew it they were fighting just like they used too. He knocked Riku hard enough to leave a bruise on his cheek and Riku retaliated by giving him a split lip. Every attempt to throw Riku off was stopped so predictably, but he couldn’t bring himself to actually try anything new. This wasn’t any more painful than anything else on this island.

All at once the fists stopped coming. He kept one arm over his head out of habit. When they were kids Riku sometimes smacked him again when he least expected.

“What the hell is your deal Sora!” Riku yelled. “You just disappeared, and now you act like you don’t even want to be here!”

He didn’t have a response. All of the reasons he had didn’t want to come out. In a burst of desperation he used all his weight to shove Riku off of him and scramble up to his feet.

“What, are we just not good enough or something?” Riku spat out from the ground. He didn’t hear Riku get up, but he also didn’t dare turn around to check.

His chest hurt. A vice wrapped its way around his heart and squeezed so hard it made him sick. It was like being a kid again. A runaway too ashamed to come home and face what he’d been running from.

“I have to go, okay?” He barely choked out the words.

“Whatever Sora.” Riku said.

He didn’t stick around, didn’t try and explain himself. He got in his grandfather’s boat and paddled hard until his arms hurt. Only when he was far enough in the waves did he stop and breath.

Everything about Destiny Islands pulled him back just like they did before. After they’d defeated Xehanort he’d come back and tried to do as he should. He cried when he saw his mom again after so many years, went to school and tried to catch up, spent some nights at his grandparents and helped them with their farm.

But he didn’t adjust quite right, not like Riku and Kairi. They wanted to be home and live their lives. Graduate, work, get married and have kids. They walked the line so easily, and for a while he could too. Then he suddenly couldn’t. Couldn’t place one foot in front of the other. He watched them walk further away into a job at the school or at the mayor’s office. Dates, friends, normal.

One night he laid down but couldn’t sleep. School was in six hours. He had a test in math and homework he didn’t finish scattered on his desk. If he failed this one he’d have to take again the next semester. Nothing on the job boards interested him. His mother wanted him to help mow the lawn that weekend. Tama at the bakery had asked him to hang up fliers around town that afternoon.

He’d wanted to cry back then too. Everything felt like chains, and the longer he stayed the heavier they felt. His own sheets started to feel suffocated. He scrambled out and sat on the floor, tried to breath in enough air to make his heart stop racing. His room felt too small, the air too hot, but his skin too cold. If he took a walk, he thought, maybe that would help.

Then he grabbed his old clothes from his closet, and he realized that it had to be more than a walk. There would be no turning back. If he left his house, he’d leave Destiny Islands.

So he walked. Left in the middle of the night like a troubled runaway, and couldn’t bring himself to come back since. If he came back he’d want to stay, and he didn’t know how long he could before he’d leave again.

He leaned over lip of the boat and stuck his head in the salt water. At the count of five he pulled it back out again. He did it all over once again, then sat back and let the water drip down the back of his neck and all over his pants. Focused on the sting in his cut lip from the salt water. Once his breathing slowed he felt calm enough to think.

The problem had been resolved. If Kya wasn’t done now she would be soon and they needed to leave for Yen Sid soon. Rowing the rest of the way was much easier. He left the boat exactly as he’d found it at the docks then waited inside the ship for another hour before Kya returned.

“I found her. She said someone had already taken care of it.”

“It took you that long to find her?”

“Not really, but she invited me inside and gave me food. I didn’t want to be rude.”

“Uh huh.” He started up the gummi ship. “I’m sure you were very polite.”

She squawked when he sent the ship into hyper drive before she could buckle in. He programmed in their coordinates then leaned back in his seat to enjoy the ride to Yen Sid’s.

“Sora.” Kya said. He looked over but Kya, instead of saying anything, just handed over a card wrapped in a white envelope.

His name was written on the front in wavy, gold calligraphy, but otherwise nothing else was on it. The flap was sealed shut with a gold bow that opened easily. The card inside was also white with golden text in the same calligraphy.

The honor of your presence is requested at the marriage of -

He slid the card back in its envelope.

“What’s it for?”

“Nothing.”

**Author's Note:**

> Title from "Boat Song" by Woodkid.


End file.
